aquaZone: An Integrative Tool for Sustainable Fish Farm Zoning

Carina Seliger, Melanie Haslauer, Günther Unfer and Stefan Schmutz
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Carina Seliger: Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Melanie Haslauer: Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Günther Unfer: Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria
Stefan Schmutz: Institute of Hydrobiology and Aquatic Ecosystem Management, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, 1180 Vienna, Austria

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 3, 1-25

Abstract: Aquaculture is the fastest-growing animal food production sector and is expected to become increasingly important to meet future food demands. As a landlocked country, Austria’s self-sufficiency rate for fish is rather low with 6% in total and 48% for freshwater fish. Therefore, and in order to enable sustainable growth of the sector while avoiding negative impacts on the aquatic ecosystem and other uses, we developed aquaZone, a decision support tool for sustainable trout farm zoning. Thereby, 30 spatially explicit criteria related to environmental prerequisites, land use, legal constraints and water quality/quantity were defined, collected and classified according to their suitability for sustainable trout production. Criteria were combined in an integrative GIS-based modelling approach in order to perform the first countrywide and spatially-explicit zonation of suitable areas for aquaculture in Austria. Thereby, 7920 suitable areas with a mean size of 8.2 ha located in 1129 out of 5011 sub-basins (23%) were identified. The decision tree assigned the highest variable importance to water temperature, slope, agricultural unit, geology, nitrate retention capacity, fish region, minimum flow and pollution risk. These results should support decision making of investors and authorities in order to avoid conflicts and stranded investments at an early stage.

Keywords: sustainable aquaculture zoning; freshwater aquaculture; flow-through system; GIS; decision support tool; ecosystem-based management; suitability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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